Chapter 7
Preston refused to help.
For twelve minutes.
Then Celeste destroyed him.
Not physically.
She simply told him the truth.
“They'll kill you too.”
Preston looked at his sister.
“You don't know that.”
“I know Mom.”
Grace looked away.
Celeste continued.
“She kept Alessia alive without telling either of us.”
“So?”
“So she always keeps one person more informed than the others.”
Preston's eyes moved toward Grace.
He finally understood.
Their mother had not built a conspiracy.
She had built compartments.
Preston knew the routes.
Celeste knew the seduction plan.
Grace knew Alessia was alive.
Each child knew enough to be useful.
Not enough to control her.
“Who did Vale communicate through?” I asked.
Grace remained silent.
Preston looked at her.
“Mom.”
Nothing.
“Who?”
Grace exhaled.
“A man named Vincent Crowe.”
I knew the name.
Vale lieutenant.
Careful.
Old.
Rarely seen twice in the same place.
“Can you reach him?”
“Yes.”
“Do it.”
Grace shook her head.
“He'll know.”
“What?”
“That something changed.”
“Then nothing changes.”
I looked around the room.
“You leave here together.”
Celeste stared at me.
“What?”
“Preston complains that I overreacted.”
Preston almost smiled.
That part would be easy for him.
“Grace tells Crowe Lily found nothing.”
Grace looked at me.
“And the recording?”
“He doesn't know we found it.”
She nodded slowly.
I continued.
“Celeste stays beside me.”
Her face changed.
“No.”
I looked at her.
“You wanted proximity.”
Silence.
“Now you're going to use it.”
For the next two hours, we rebuilt their lie.
Grace called Crowe.
She sounded irritated.
Perfectly irritated.
Said Lily had wandered into the basement.
Said Raffaele panicked.
Said Preston had been hit.
Said nothing useful was exposed.
Crowe believed her.
Or pretended to.
Then he made one mistake.
He asked:
“Did the girl say anything about bells?”
Grace looked at me.
I wrote two words on a card.
SHE FORGOT.
Grace repeated them.
Crowe exhaled.
Relief.
There it was.
Briar Hill mattered.
After the call ended, I looked at Preston.
“Still think she's somewhere else?”
He said nothing.
We left before dawn.
Not with twenty cars.
With two.
No Bellandi-style procession.
No visible soldiers.
Just me, four men, Preston and Grace.
Celeste stayed behind with Lily under guard.
She didn't complain.
Maybe she finally understood what trust actually looked like.
Briar Hill sat three hours north.
The old monastery was hidden beyond cedar trees and an abandoned orchard.
We stopped a mile away.
Preston stared at the stone tower.
“I've never been here.”
Grace looked at him.
“I have.”
He turned.
“When?”
She didn't answer.
I did.
“Every month.”
Grace closed her eyes.
Of course.
She hadn't just received proof.
She had delivered something.
I looked at her.
“What did you bring Alessia?”
Grace whispered:
“Food.”
My fists tightened.
“Medicine.”
I said nothing.
“Messages.”
I turned.
“What messages?”
Grace looked toward the monastery.
“From Lily.”
Everything inside me went cold.
“What?”
“She asked about her daughter constantly.”
Grace's voice broke for the first time.
“I told her Lily was safe.”
“You stood in front of my wife every month.”
“Yes.”
“You looked her in the face.”
“Yes.”
“And came home to my house.”
She couldn't answer.
I stepped away before anger made the decision for me.
One of my men returned from the tree line.
“Boss.”
“What?”
“Movement.”
“How many?”
“Six outside.”
“And inside?”
“Unknown.”
I looked toward the bell tower.
Then the bell rang.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Grace went white.
“What?”
She whispered:
“That isn't the hour.”
I stared at her.
“What does it mean?”
May you like
She looked at me.
“Crowe knows.”
